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In  Memoriam 
DR.JOHNJ.DORAN 

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THE 

CHOICE  OF  A  COLLEGE 

FOR  A  BOY 


BY 

CHARLES  FRANKLIN  THWING,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Presidext  of  Western  Keserve  University  and 
Adeujert  College,  Cleveland,  Ohio 


New  York  :  46  East  Focrteenth  Street 

THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  &  COMPANY 

Boston:  100  Purchase  Street'      ,A'^ 

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 


Copyright,  1899, 
By  Thouas  Y.  Cbowell  &  Company. 


C  3.  FKTKBS  k  80M,  TTPOGBArBKBS, 
BOBTOM. 


i;>48.^ 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A  COLLEGE 

FOR   A   BOY. 

Parents  too  often  choose  a  college  for  a  son  without 
special  thought  or  knowledge.  To  many  people  a  col- 
lege is  a  college,  as  a  spade  is  a  spade.  But  the  slightest 
reflection,  or  the  most  superficial  knowledge,  is  sufl&cient 
to  produce  the  conviction  that  colleges  differ  as  funda- 
mentally as  any  other  products  of  human  skill.  Certain 
institutions  that  bear  the  name  of  college  advance  the 
student  to  no  higher  stage  of  learning  or  culture  than 
other  colleges  require  for  admission  to  their  freshman 
class. 

It  is  also  evident  that  too  many  parents  do  not  select 
a  college  with  special  reference  to  the  conditions  or  the 
needs  of  the  son  who  is  going  to  college.  It  is  often 
thought  that  a  college  good  for  one  boy  must  be  good  for 
all  boys.  The  truth  is  not  that  the  college  which  is  one 
boy's  meat  is  another  boy's  poison,  but  the  truth  is  that 
a  college  good  for  one  boy  may  be  something  less  than 
good  or  even  something  more  than  good  for  another  boy. 

Before  beginning  the  discussion  of  the  elements  that 
should  constitute  the  choice  of  a  college,  it  is  not  unfit- 
ting for  me  to  say  it  is  always  to  be  understood  that  to 
the  parent  selecting  a  college  for  a  child  the  college  is  a 
tool  and  not  a  product.  It  is  an  agent  and  not  a  result. 
It  represents  a  certain  collection  of  men  who  are  en- 
gaged in  the  work  of  teaching  students,  and  it  also  rep- 

3 


4  THE  CHOICE  OF  A    COLLEGE. 

^„  resents  a  certain  number  of  books  and  a  certain  amount 
^^  of  apparatus  which  are  the  conditions  or  the  tools  which 
♦z**^-***"  the  teaching  force  uses  in  the  accomplishment  of  its 
purposes.  The  college  is  so  constantly  and  so  firmly 
regarded  as  a  thing  good  in  itself  that  one  should  be  put 
on  his  guard  against  thinking  of  the  college  as  other 
than  an  agency  for  securing  certain  results. 

CITY   OB   COUNTRY? 

One  of  the  first  questions  which  a  parent  considers  in 
selecting  a  college  for  his  boy  relates  to  its  location. 
Nearly  all  the  colleges  in  the  United  States  are,  like  the 
Jerusalem  of  David,  beautiful  for  situation.  In  fact, 
colleges  have  usually  been  planted  in  certain  spots  be- 
cause of  the  beauty  of  the  proposed  location.  It  is  also 
evident  that  to  the  natural  beauty  of  the  location  their 
presence  makes  additions.  The  situation  is  usually  one 
of  healthfulness.  But  the  special  question  that  the 
parent  has  to  answer  is  the  question  whether  he  shall 
send  his  boy  to  the  college  in  the  country  or  to  the  col- 
lege in  the  city.  About  four-fifths  of  all  the  colleges 
in  the  United  States  are  country  colleges.  Whether  the 
country  or  the  city  is  the  best  place  for  a  college  is  one 
of  those  questions  which  educators  are  constantly  dis- 
cussing. The  arguments  upon  each  side  are  not  difficult 
to  state.  In  behalf  of  the  rural  location,  it  is  constantly 
said  that  the  personal  expenses  of  the  student  ai"e  in  the 
country  less  than  in  the  city.  It  is  also  argued  that 
the  country  promotes  freedom  from  certain  moral  temp- 
tations. The  declaration  is  frequently  made  that  the 
country  gives  larger  freedom  for  certain  social  recreations 
and  forms  of  amusement.  It  is  constantly  and  worthily 
asserted  that  the  association  with  nature  through  the 
country  college  is  more  intimate  and  precious.     In  be- 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A    COLLEGE.  6 

half  of  the  urban  situation,  it  is  argued  that  the  student 
is  able  to  come  into  association  with  the  best  life  of 
humanity  of  every  kind.  The  mightiest  life  of  the 
nation  pours  into  the  city.  Here  the  best  preachers 
have  their  pulpits ;  here  the  best  lecturers  bring  them- 
selves and  their  messages ;  here  the  best  influences  of 
art  and  of  every  form  of  noble  enjoyment  cluster ;  here 
the  association  of  man  vrith  man  is  more  intimate  and 
more  formative  of  the  best  character.  It  is  also  said 
that  the  enjoyment  of  nature  is  more  intense  to  one  who 
spends  a  part  of  his  energies  and  time  amidst  the  works 
of  man  than  to  one  who  is  remote  from  the  most  active 
human  interests.  The  contrast  between  the  works  of 
God  and  the  works  of  man  flings  man  sharply  into  the 
profoundest  appreciation  of  natural  scenes. 

Between  these  two  sets  of  arguments  it  is  not  neces- 
sary for  me  to  be  an  arbiter,  any  further  than  to  say 
that  in  my  judgment,  for  the  ordinary  boy  the  college 
in  the  city,  or  the  college  on  the  borders  of  a  city,  is,  on 
the  whole,  to  be  preferred.  Probably  the  absolutely 
best  location  is  that  of  a  college  in  the  suburbs  of  a 
great  city.  In  such  an  environment  the  student  is  able 
to  secure  communion  with  nature  and  also  association 
with  great  movements  and  with  large  life.  But  upon 
tlie  choice  of  a  rural  or  an  urban  college,  the  parent 
should  not  decide  without  a  careful  consideration  of  the 
needs  of  his  child.  In  not  a  few  instances  it  is  well  for 
one  who  has  been  born  and  bred  in  the  city,  and  who 
will  probably  live  his  life  in  the  city,  to  spend  four  years 
in  a  distinctly  country  environment.  For  him  the  coun- 
try college  may  be  the  best,  in  case  he  is  willing  to 
accept  its  conditions.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  for  one 
who  has  been  born  and  bred  in  the  country,  the  life 
of  the  city  itself  is  a  very  direct  aid  in  giving  him  the 


6  THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE. 

best  education.  For  a  boy,  country-born  and  country- 
bred,  to  go  to  a  country  college  does  not  represent  that 
change  of  scene  and  of  influence  which  it  is  best  for  him 
usually  to  receive. 

/     SCHOLARSHIP,  j   -       />• 

/  A  second  question  which  is  worthy  of  most  serious 
consideration  relates  to  the  scholarly  character  of  the 
college.  The  type  of  scholarship  to  which  a  college  is 
devoted  may  be  of  either  one  or  both  of  two  sorts.  It 
may  be  the  scholarship  of  research,  or  it  may  be  the 
scholarship  of  and  for  teaching.  The  scholarship  of 
research  is  in  many  ways  more  important  than  the 
scholarship  of  teaching,  but  such  scholarship  belongs 
more  properly  to  the  university  than  to  the  ordinary 
college.  It  therefore  does  not  fall  directly  within  the 
circle  of  our  present  investigation.  But  in  America 
these  two  kinds  of  scholarship  are  usually  combined. 
The  college  that  is  distinguished  for  its  scientific  or 
linguistic  research  gains  distinction  as  a  worthy  place 
for  the  teaching  of  youth,  -g,  But  the  scholarship  that  is 
devoted  to  the  service  of  teaching  represents  an  element 
which  is  of  far  greater  value  to  the  parent  in  search  of 
a  college  than  the  scholarship  of  research.  It  is  pre- 
cisely at  this  point  that  American  colleges  differ  from 
each  other  by  diameters  of  incalculable  length.  It  is 
also  at  this  point  that  most  parents  are  in  peril  of  lacking 
evidence  for  making  just  decisions.  The  evidence  that  is 
usually  presented  to  a  parent  seeking  to  know  the  schol- 
arly conditions  of  a  college  consists  of  the  statements 
found  in  the  official  publications  of  the  college,  such  as 
catalogues,  or  in  the  statements  made  by  the  students 
themselves.  Such  evidence  is  notoriously  inadequate. 
There  are  catalogues  that  tell  the  truth,  and  nothing 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE.  7 

but  the  truth,  and  I  am  sure  that  most  makers  of  cata- 
logues desire  and  design  to  tell  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth;  but  the  authorities 
of  some  colleges  allow  themselves  to  be  deceived  in  re- 
spect to  the  relative  worth  of  the  scholarly  facilities 
which  they  are  able  to  offer  to  students.  The  college 
mind  is  in  peril  of  provincialism.  So  great  is  the  work 
which  any  college  accomplishes  for  its  students,  and  so 
great  is  the  work  which  each  teacher  accomplishes  for 
his  individual  students,  that  both  the  college  and  its 
professors  are  inclined  to  believe  that  they  are  doing  as 
much  as  any  other  college  in  the  world  can  do  for  its 
men.  Whereas  the  fact  may  be  that  the  scholarly  char- 
acter of  one  college  is  richer  and  higher  and  nobler  than 
the  scholarly  character  of  another  college  by  a  degree 
as  great  as  that  which  divides  the  last  year  in  the  gram- 
mar school  from  the  last  year  in  the  high  school.  To 
illustrate  the  difference  in  the  scholarly  character  of 
colleges  let  me  set  down  side  by  side  the  courses  of 
study  in  Harvard  College  in  the  academic  year  1871-1872 
with  the  course  of  study  in  the  same  college  twenty- 
five  years  after.  At  the  earlier  time  the  titles  of  the 
courses  of  study  in  the  college  occupied  eight  pages  as 
printed  in  the  catalogue  for  the  following  year.  In  the 
year  1896-1897  the  titles  of  the  courses  of  study  occupied 
sixty  pages.  In  the  year  1871-1872  were  offered  two 
courses  in  political  science,  five  courses  in  philosophy, 
and  five  courses  in  history.  Twenty-five  years  after- 
ward were  offered  in  political  science,  —  including  eco- 
nomics and  government,  —  thirty  courses ;  in  philosophy, 
twenty-six  courses ;  and  in  history,  twenty-four  courses. 
Although  certain  of  these  courses  are  designed  primarily 
for  graduates,  yet  this  fact  does  not  appreciably  lessen 
the  force  of  the  comparison.     The  simple  truth  is  that 


8  THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE. 

scores  of  colleges,  and  good  ones  too,  are  not  so  rich 
to-day  in  scholarly  resources  as  Harvard  College  was 
twenty-five  years  ago.  The  same  difference  that  is 
made  evident  between  the  Harvard  of  1871-1872  and 
the  Harvard  of  1896-1897  exists  in  colleges  of  each  of 
our  great  States  at  the  present  time.  Now,  the  point 
which  I  wish  to  make  is  that  the  college  that  is  richest 
in  scholarly  resources  is,  other  things  being  equal,  the 
best  college.  But,  of  course,  other  things  are  not  equal. 
5  In  discussing  the  scholarship  of  a  college  the  par- 
ent must  be  influenced  somewhat  by  the  consideration 
whether  the  courses  of  study  are  largely  prescribed  or 
largely  or  entirely  elective.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  general  system  described  by  the  epithet  "  elective  " 
is  to  become  permanent.  The  extent  to  which  it  should 
be  introduced,  and  therefore  the  extent  to  which  its 
presence  in  the  college  should  influence  the  parent,  de- 
pends very  largely  upon  the  degree  of  knowledge  and 
of  maturity  that  the  student  possesses  upon  entering 
college.  If  he  is  mature,  and  if  he  has  read  as  much  of 
the  ancient  and  the  modern  classics  at  the  close  of  his 
course  in  the  high  school  as  many  a  college  youth  fifty 
years  ago  had  read  at  the  close  of  his  sophomore  year, 
it  is  well  to  grant  to  him  a  pretty  free  choice  of  electives 
in  his  college  years.  But  if  in  the  college  it  is  neces- 
sary for  him  to  devote  his  first  year  and  possibly  part 
of  his  second  year  to  the  doing  of  work  that  other 
college  men  have  done  in  the  high  school,  he  should 
of  course  be  limited  to  a  prescribed  course  of  study 
in  the  first  semesters.  Yet  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  colleges  which  do  offer  the  largest  range  of  elec- 
tive  studies  jire  the  colleges  that  are  richest  in  scholar- 
ship and  scholastic  resources;  for  without  such  wealth 
of  resources  they  could  not  present  a  great  variety  and 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE.  9 

number  of  elective  courses.  For  the  elective  system 
gathers  up  knowledge  from  all  fields.  It  makes  exten- 
sive forays  into  the  fields  of  learning  as  it  also  makes 
expensive  ones  into  the  fields  of  finance. 

MEN    BEFORi:    METHODS.lj  S..r^#^c^U>v> 

It  is  not,  however,  the  simple  scholastic°resources  of 
the  college  which  have  value.  The  teacher  that  stands 
behind  the  teaching, — the  man  that  was  before  the 
scholar  and  who  helps  to  constitute  the  scholar,  —  is 
more  important  than  the  teaching  or  the  scholarship. 
Therefore  in  judging  of  different  colleges  it  is  cer- 
tainly of  extreme  importance  that  one  should  know  or 
know  of  the  teachers.  A  college  that  is  not  rich  in 
scholarly  resources  may  yet  have  great  teachers,  —  men 
great  to  make  men.  Williams  College,  for  instance,  was 
for  many  years  a  great  power  in  the  life  of  New  Eng- 
land and  of  the  whole  nation,  and  of  course  it  is  now, 
and  Williams  College  was  not  rich  in  scholarly  resources, 
but  Williams  College  made  men  largely  through  that 
prince  of  men,  —  Mark  Hopkins.  Graduate  after  grad- 
uate of  Amherst  College  has  testified  that  the  best 
thing  that  Amherst  College  did  for  him  was  Julius  H. 
Seelye.  Likewise  many  a  college,  poor  in  purse,  meagre 
in  scholastic  equipment,  has  given  a  most  precious  life 
to  its  graduates  through  the  vitality  of  its  teachers.  As 
the  student  in  college,  in  choosing  his  electives,  selects 
not  so  much  the  subject  as  the  teacher,  so  also  the  par- 
ent choosing  a  college  for  a  son  should  be  influenced 
quite  as  much  by  the  teacher  as  by  the  scholarship  of 
the  college. 

The  scholarly  and  personal  character  of  a  college  has 
value  in  respect  to  the  purpose  which  the  parent  may  en- 
tertain for  his  son.     I  presume  that  most  parents  when 


10  THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE. 

they  think  of  the  future  of  a  child,  think  of  it  in  a  very- 
general  way  :  "  I  want  him  to  be  a  good  boy ;  I  want  him 
to  grow  up  to  be  a  good  man,"  represents  the  most  com- 
mon thought.  But  when  a  parent  begins  to  be  specific 
in  his  purposes  he  will  probably  find  that  he  desires  to 
have  his  son  become  either  a  scholar,  or  a  thinker,  or 
a  worthy  citizen,  or  a  gentleman.  These  purposes  help 
somewhat  to  determine  the  choice  of  a  college.  To  make 
a  scholar,  the  scholarly  college  is  of  pre-eminent  value ; 
to  make  a  thinker,  the  college  whose  faculty  is  composed 
of  intellectual  disciplinarians  is  of  pre-eminent  value ;  to 
make  a  good  citizen,  the  college  whose  faculty  is  com- 
posed of  men  of  vitality  in  close  touch  with  life  is  of 
pre-eminent  value;  to  make  a  gentleman,  the  college 
whose  faculty  is  composed  of  men  who  are  noble  gentle- 
men, living  in  an  atmosphere  of  culture,  is  of  pre-emi- 
nent value. 

RELIGIOUS    INFLUENCES. 

To  many  persons  the  religious,  or  the  moral  and  reli- 
gious, character  of  a  college  emerges  more  prominently 
than  the  scholarly  character.  I  think  it  may  frankly 
be  said  that  most  persons  entertain  a  fear  of  the  in- 
"  **** '  fluence  of  the  college  upon  their  sons.  The  fear  arises 
''*'****^  possibly  not  so  much  from  the  character  of  the  college 
as  from  the  fact  that  the  child  is  going  away  from  his 
home  into  new  and  partially  unknown  surroundings. 
The  fear  would  be  none  the  less  if  he  were  going  to 
New  York  into  a  banker's  office  on  Wall  Street  than 
if  he  were  going  to  New  York  to  enter  Columbia  College 
at  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Street.  But  also  the 
fear  may  have  some  basis  on  the  ground  that  certain 
people  think  the  college  is  intrinsically  and  inherently 
bad  ;  that  is,  some  parents  believe  that  certain  students 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE.  11 

in  the  college  have  a  bad  influence  on  each  other.  It 
■was  only  yesterday  that  a  mother  said  to  me,  "  I  was 
so  fearful  for  my  boy  to  come  to  college,  for  I  was  afraid 
of  the  bad  boys."  I  replied  to  her,  "  We  have  no  bad 
boys  in  college ; "  and  my  remark  was  true  in  general. 
There  are  fewer  bad  boys  in  the  American  colleges  than 
in  any  other  gathering  of  American  youth  of  similar 
size.  The  impression  that  the  college  has  many  bad 
boys  arises  from  the  attention  paid  by  the  newspapers 
to  the  pranks  which  college  boys  perpetrate.  College  ^^^^^ 
pranks,  I  know,  are  not  signs  of  regenerating  grace;  v^^^-/^ 
they  are  signs  simply  of  a  surplus  of  animal  spirits.  /*>*«««. 
Stealing  the  tongue  of  the  college  bell,  sending  the 
Bible  of  the  college  chapel  from  Cambridge  to  New 
Haven,  the  hooking  and  the  hiding  of  the  gates  of  pro- 
fessors' houses,  are  not  acts  to  be  commended.  They 
are  acts  to  be  condemned ;  but  they  are  not  to  be  con- 
demned in  the  same  way  nor  to  the  same  degree  that 
lying,  or  forgery,  or  drunkenness  is  to  be  condemned. 
In  a  word,  the  American  college  represents  a  moral  en- 
vironment, a  moral  activity,  and  a  moral  atmosphere.  It 
represents,  too,  an  environment,  activity,  and  atmosphere 
of  a  constantly  increasing  moral  vigor  and  worth.  Ver- 
dant greenness,  moral  foolishness,  and  ethical  imbecility 
are  there  less  frequently  exhibited  than  they  used  to  be. 
These  defects  and  deficiencies  never  had  that  place  in 
American  college  life  which  they  played  in  the  career 
of  Mr.  Verdant  Green  at  the  English  university.  The  ^•■^**^ 
religious  life  also  of  the  American  college  is  far  more^^j;,..^^ 
pervasive  and  vital  than  it  usually  receives  credit  for.'' 
Not  far  from  two-thirds  of  the  students  in  the  American 
colleges  are  members  of  Christian  churches.  The  Chris- 
tian life  of  the  college  has  changed  in  these  last  years. 
Kevivals  are  far  less  common  than  they  were.     Few  col- 


12  THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE. 

leges  now  take  special  means  for  the  promotion  of  revi- 
vals, as  many  colleges  used  to  do.  Few  colleges  now 
suspend  college  work  for  the  sake  of  holding  revivals, 
as  many  colleges  formerly  suspended  college  work  for 
days,  if  not  for  weeks  together,  for  this  purpose.  But 
the  absence  of  revivals  does  not  prove  that  the  Christian 
life  of  the  students  is  less  vital  than  two  generations  ago. 
On  the  contrary,  the  Christian  life  in  the  colleges  is  more 
vital,  more  natural,  and  more  constant  than  in  the  former 
time.  The  endeavor  is  not  at  the  present  to  make  the 
college  man  religious,  but  the  endeavor  is  to  make  a 
religious  college  man ;  the  endeavor  is  not  to  make  the 
student  Christian,  but  the  endeavor  is  to  make  a  Chris- 
tian student. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  certain  colleges  do 
pay  more  conspicuous  attention  to  the  religious  and 
moral  character  of  their  students  than  do  others.  But 
of  all  colleges  it  is  the  supreme  concern.  The  words 
which  the  great  Sir  Walter  spoke  to  his  son-in-law  as 
he  lay  dying,  —  "  Lockhart,  be  a  good  man,  be  a  good 
man,"  —  illustrate  what  each  college  has  for  its  highest 
purpose.     It  wishes  to  form  the  noblest  character. 

Colleges   differ  by  world-wide  differences  in  respect 
to  their  method  of  securing  the  highest  character.     One 
yyj^^^^ollege  attempts  to  secure  this  result  through  a  definite 
ff^A  and  comprehensive  system  of  rules  and  regulations.      It 
vutu^txiaitermpts  to  govern  the  conduct  of  the  student  each  day, 
from  the  hour  he  gets  out  of  bed  in  the  morning  till  the 
hour  of  his  getting  into  bed  at  night.     It  requires  him 
to  partake  of  his  breakfast  at  a  certain  specified  time,  to 
be  in  his  room  and  engaged  in  study  between  certain 
specified  hours,  as  well  as  to  be  at  recitations  and  lec- 
tures at  certain  times.     It  forbids  him  to  leave  town  or 
to  venture  into  certain  districts.     In  a  word,  the  college 


*«Vr»»i 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A    COLLEGE.  13 

is  an  overseer,  a  guardian.  Other  colleges  adopt  a 
wholly  different  method.  They  adopt  the  method  of 
the  parent  in  reference  to  the  youth  of  eighteen  or 
twenty  who  is  of  ordinary  maturity  and  of  good  habits. 
The  college  trusts  the  boy.  It  receives  him  as  one 
who  has  come  to  college  to  get  the  benefits  which  col- 
lege can  give.  It  accepts  him  at  his  best.  It  receives 
him  as  a  gentleman.  It  requires  his  attendance  at  reci- 
tations. It  holds  him  to  a  certain  standard  of  scholastic 
attainment.  It  sets  before  him  worthy  examples  in 
the  person  of  its  teachers.  It  asks  him  to  make  the 
most  of  every  opportunity.  Each  of  these  two  meth- 
ods has  its  advantages.  Which  is  the  better,  I,  for 
one,  have  no  question.  Each  method  may  secure  ex- 
cellent results.  Under  either  method,  too,  the  boy  who 
is  determined  to  be  bad  will  be  bad.  But  under  both 
systems  one  can  give  to  himself  the  advantage  of  believ- 
ing, as  is  said  in  the  "  Vicar  of  "Wakefield  "  (chapter  v.) 
I  that  "  Virtue  which  requires  to  be  ever  guarded  is  scarce 
worth  the  sentinel."  »i«V^*'^'*iil-'^ 

THB   DENOMINATIONAL   COLLEGE. 

The  religious  character  of  a  college  is  represented  to 
most  people  in  its  denominational  character.  Christian- 
ity has  usually  as  an  organized  force  articulated  itself 
into  denominations. 

The  great  majority  of  the  colleges  in  this  country  are 
denominational.  '  It  is  sometimes  asserted  that  a  college 
cannot  be  Christian  without  being  denominational.  The 
remark  is,  however,  not  true.*^  The  value  of  the  denom- 
inational college  in  the  early  stages  of  a  community  is 
great,  but  as  the  country  develops  its  value  rapidly 
diminishes.  If  one  desire  that  his  son  shall  be  trained 
in  certain  denominational  tenets,  it  may  be  worth  while 


14  THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE. 

for  him  to  send  the  son  to  a  college  of  that  denomination 
in  the  tenets  of  which  he  desires  his  son  to  be  trained. 
But  if  he  simply  desire  that  his  son  shall  embody  and 
represent  what  is  known  as  Christian  manhood,  the  de- 
nominational relations  of  the  college  should  have  no 
value.  The  denominational  character  is  more  marked 
in  certain  colleges  than  in  others  even  of  the  same 
,fi^***<4^enomination.  Colleges,  too,  of  those  ecclesiastical 
. /n**^Ai*aiths  which  are  the  more  highly  organized  are  more 
'  highly  denominational  than  of  those  faiths  which  are 
more  loosely  organized.  For  instance,  colleges  of  the 
Methodist  or  of  the  Presbyterian  faith  are  more  clearly 
Methodist  or  Presbyterian  than  colleges  which  are  of 
the  Congregational  faith  are  Congregational.  Yale, 
Amherst,  and  Williams  are  sometimes  called  Congre- 
gational colleges ;  but  the  Congregational  relations  of 
these  colleges  are  far  less  conspicuous  than  the  Meth- 
odist relations  of  the  many  colleges  which  have  the 
word  Wesleyan  prefixed  as  a  part,  or  as  constituting 
the  whole,  of  their  name.  For  one,  I  venture  to  say 
that  the  denominational  character  of  a  college  should 
have  no  or  only  small  value  with  any  one  who  is  search- 
.  ing  for  a  first-rate  college.  The  chief,  I  may  almost  say 
--^-r>/the  only,  element  to  be  considered  in  this  general  rela- 
,  tion  is  the  element :  "  l3_the  colleg£jI!hristian  ?  Does 
the  college  through  the  person  of  its  professors,  through 
the  instruction  of  its  class-rooms,  through  its  govern- 
ment, and  through  all  its  conditions  and  agencies,  tend 
to  promote  the  formation  of  that  type  of  manhood 
which  is  embodied  in  the  word  Christian  ?  "  And  this 
type  of  manhood  the  best  college  does  desire  to  promote, 
not  for  ecclesiastical  or  for  any  narrow  reason,  but  be- 
cause the  Christian  type  represents  the  highest,  the 
fullest,  and  the  largest  type  of  manhood. 


THE  CUOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE.  15 


J]    THE   SMALL   VS.   THITLABGE   COLLEGE. 

A  foiirth  element  in  our  question  emerges.  It  relates 
to  the  size  of  the  college.  Arguments  for  small  colleges 
and  arguments  for  large  colleges  abound,  and  there  are 
worthy  arguments  for  each  proposition.  But  in  this,  as 
in  other  elements,  the  choice  is  to  be  made  not  simply 
upon  the  intrinsic  ground  of  the  facts,  but  upon  the 
ground  of  the  relation  of  the  facts  to  the  bov  who  is 
going  to  college.  The  advantage  of  the  college  of  many 
'qj  students  is  that  that  part  of  education  which  consists  in 
A^the  attrition  or  formative  influence  which  students  give 
^^to  each  other  is  greater.  The  men  of  a  large  college 
dome  from  a  greater  variety  of  conditions,  and  represent 
larger  and  more  diverse  elements  in  character.  They 
therefore  rub  against  each  other  with  more  severity. 
The  tendency  to  produce  a  more  composite  type  of  man- 
hood is  stronger.  The  disadvantage  of  the  college  of 
many  students  is  that  the  teacher  is  frequently  obliged 
to  instruct  a  larger  number  of  students  than  he  ought. 
Every  college  officer  knows  that  the  addition  of  each 
new  student  may  impoverish  the  college.  The  fees  paid 
for  his  tuition  do  not  meet  the  cost  of  his  tuition. 
Therefore  as  a  college  increases  in  the  number  of  its 
students  the  tendency  of  the  governing  bodies  is  not  to 
increase  the  teaching  force  in  a  corresponding  ratio. 
The  Harvard  Graduates'  Magazine  for  December,  1896, 
notes  as  occurring  in  that  college  the  consolidation  of 
two  sections  in  Spanish  which  made  a  section  of  over 
eighty  men.  This  consolidation  became  necessary  be- 
cause of  illness ;  but  for  many  teachers  a  class  of  even 
forty  students  is  altogether  too  large.  I  recognize,  of 
course,  that  certain  teachers  can  instruct  and  educate 
a  section  of  eighty  men  better  than  others  can  one  of 


16  THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE. 

^  ^  I  twenty.  As  a  rule,  a  teacher  should  have  no  more  men 
i^^\  in  a  class  than  he,  so  to  speak,  can  hold  in  his  eye.  On 
'''^''^  the  whole,  the  larger  colleges  are  allowing  themselves  to 
suffer  and  their  students  to  suffer  because  of  too  big  sec- 
tions. This  result  is  not  a  necessary  one  ;  for,  if  the  col- 
lege should  increase  the  number  of  its  teaching  force  in 
the  same  proportion  in  which  the  number  of  its  students 
increases,  no  evil  would  result.  That  the  college  ought 
so  to  do  is  evident ;  but  it  is  the  fact  that  the  ordinary 
college  does  not  usually  so  do.  It  is  also  to  be  said  that 
the  advantage  arising  from  the  presence  of  a  great  num- 
ber of  students  is  not  so  great  as  is  usually  supposed ; 
for  every  large  college  divides  itself  into  cliques  or  sets 
of  men,  and  every  division  may  keep  itself  pretty  closely 
to  itself.  I  have,  for  instance,  known  a  man  in  one 
of  our  largest  colleges  to  say :  "  I  find  college  life  so 
^  lonely!"  The  advantage  of  the  small  college  is  that 
the  relatively  few  students  and  the  relatively  large 
number  of  teachers  tend  to  promote  intimacy  of  relation- 
ship between  those  who  sit  behind  the  teacher's  desk 
and  those  who  sit  on  the  benches  before  it.  This  advan- 
iCMr^Jl^m^  is  of  very  great  worth.  For,  as  I  read  the  lives  of 
IJ^^i -tii^e  men  trained  in  American  colleges  who  have  rendered 
gi'eat  service  to  American  life,  I  find  them  far  more  fre- 
quently attributing  value  to  the  influences  of  their 
teachers  than  to  the  teachings  themselves.  The  disad- 
vantage of  the  small  college,  be  it  said,  is  provincialism. 
The'choice  between  the  large  and  the  small  college  is 
therefore  one  that  should  be  made  with  great  delibera- 
tion, having  special  reference  to  the  character  of  the  boy 
to  whom  the  education  is  to  be  given. 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A  COLLEGE.  17 


THE    COST    OF    A    COLLEGE    EDUCATION. 

Possibly  the  first  question  which  a  parent  asks  him- 
self is  one  as  to  the  cost.  Certain  colleges  to  which  he 
might  be  glad  to  send  his  boy  he  regards  as  closed 
because  of  the  expense.  In  a  general  way  the  cost  of  a 
college  education  can  be  easily  settled.  Certain  colleges 
exhibit  in  their  catalogues  four  scales  of  annual  expenses, 
denominating  them,  *'  low,"  "  moderate,"  "  liberal,"  and 
"  very  liberal."  The  same  conditions  obtain  within 
the  college  that  obtain  out  of  the  college.  I  consider 
that  for  a  boy  of  good  habits,  of  high  aims,  appreciating 
properly  the  purchasing  power  of  money,  this  is  a  fair 
method  of  estimating  what  he  ought  to  spend  in  college : 
Add  together  the  fee  for  tuition,  the  fee  for  room  and 
for  board,  multiply  the  resulting  sum  by  two,  and  you 
have  what  it  is  best  for  him  to  spend.  It  is  wise  for 
him  to  spend  this  sum  to  get  the  best  out  of  the  college, 
to  live  the  most  vital  life  in  the  college,  to  have  the 
largest  number  of  interests,  to  be  the  most  useful,  and 
to  form  a  character  that  shall  fit  itself  most  exactly  and 
fully  into  the  conditions  which  he  may  be  called  upon 
to  fill.  Many  a  boy  in  college  spends  very  much  less  •  ^. 
than  what  is  best  for  him  to  spend ;  he  is  obliged  to  ^fr' 
spend  very  much  less.  Yet  it  is  far  better  for  him  to 
come  to  college  and  to  be  economical,  —  economical  even 
to  the  danger  point  of  suffering  and  of  decency,  —  than 
not  to  come  at  all.  Not  a  few  bovs  also  come  to  college 
who  spend  very  much  more  than  twice  the  expense  for  / 
the  three  fundamental  elements  of  tuition,  room,  and 
board.  'Che  larger  number  of  boys  of  lavish  expendi- 
tures are  gravely  injured  through  these  extravagances. 
Upon  the  basis  which  I  have  indicated,  one  can  go  to 
excellent  colleges  upon  a  sum  not  exceeding  three  hun- 


18  TUE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE. 

dred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  receive  the  largest  benefits. 
One  can  go  to  certain  colleges  and  be  obliged  to  spend  at 
A'      the  very  least  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars ;  one  can 
'^*^     get  a  first-rate  education  at  certain  colleges,  too,  for  as 
small  a  sum  as  two  hundred ;  but  the  basis  I  have  indi- 
cated contains  the  essential  elements  for  making  a  judg- 
ment. 
w*«^         The   question   of  cost  has   relation  also  to  the  aid 
'*t   *t  which  the  college  can  give  to  the  man  of  light  purse  and 
*''*'*'^'*^  of  heavy  brain,  and  also  to  the  opportunities  for  self-sup- 
port.    For  every  college  has  scholarships  or  aid  funds, 
**/^  which  are  grants  made  for  the  use  of  good  students. 
Every  college  also  is  able  to  offer  to  certain  men  means 
of  self-support.     At  this  point  the  advantage  that  the 
'""^J^'T^^^ty  college  enjoys  is  greatly  superior  to  that  possessed 
by  the  country  college.     I  know  not  a  few  students  who 
through  the  grants  made  by  the  college  in  the  shape  of 
*^ '  ^  '  loans  or  gifts,  or  through  certain  work  that  the  college 
>*vva,  puts  into  their  hands,  are  meeting  all  their  expenses. 
Be  it  said,  too,  that  most  men  of  this  sort  are  men  of 
large  ability  and  the  highest  promise.     In  a  word,  it 
may  be  said  that,  however  worth  educating  or  needy 
of  education  the  rich  man  may  be,  —  and  he  is  worth 
educating  and  he  needs  education,  —  it  is  of  the  utmost 
importance  for  the  best  interests  of  America  that  the 
poor  boy  of  ability  shall  be  educated.     Many  a  college 
president  stands  ready  to  help  the  boy  of  strong  body, 
of  light  purse,  of  pure  heart,  of  good  brain,  and  of  high 
purposes  to  an  education.     A  boy  should  never  give 
up  the  hope  of  a  college  education  on  the  ground  of  pov- 
erty. 

EASTERN  COLLEGKS  AND  WESTERN. 

There  is  another  question  frequently  emerging  which 
is  worthy  of  discussion.     The  remark  is  often  heard 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE.  19 

among  families  living  in  the  central  or  remote  West  that 
their  sons  are  going  East  to  college.  The  belief  is  com- 
mon and  strong  that  the  colleges  of  the  East  are  better 
than  the  colleges  of  the  West.  The  primary  differences 
prevailing  between  the  colleges  of  the  East  and  the 
colleges  of  the  West  are  the  differences  that  divide  the 
older  civilization  from  the  younger.  Possibly  I  may 
say  that  the  differences  between  the  Eastern  and  the 
Western  colleges  are  not  so  great  by  any  manner  of 
means  as  are  the  differences  between  the  older  and  the 
younger  civilization.  For  education  does  not  know  lati- 
tude and  longitude  as  do  certain  elements  of  civiliza- 
tion. Certain  facts  are  clear.  Few  students  go  from 
the  East  to  the  West  for  an' education ;  not  a  few  go 
from  the  West  to  the  East.  Although  more  than  one- 
half  of  the  students  in  almost  every  one  of  our  Ameri- 
can colleges  come  from  towns  within  the  States  in  which 
those  colleges  are  situated,  and  although  in  not  a  few  in- 
stances the  larger  part  of  the  students  come  from  within 
a  radius  of  seventy-five  miles  of  the  college,  yet  no  small 
proportion  of  the  students  in  the  colleges  of  Massachu- 
setts, Connecticut,  and  New  Jersey  are  drawn  from  west 
of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  Certain  differences  are 
evident  enough.  The  colleges  of  the  West  are  more 
inclined  to  emphasize  the  scientific  and  mathematical 
studies  of  the  curriculum ;  and  the  colleges  of  the  East 
are  more  inclined  to  emphasize  the  linguistic  and  philo- 
sophical and  historical  studies.  The  colleges  of  the 
West  have  more  students  who  are  earning  their  way. 
The  colleges  of  the  East,  on  the  whole,  make  the  larger 
grants  of  scholarship  and  of  other  beneficiary  funds. 
But  it  is  more  fundamental  to  say  that  the  colleges  of 
the  East  have,  on  the  whole,  more  great  scholars  than 
the  colleges  of  the  West.     They  also  are  better  equipped 


20  THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE. 

in  scholastic  apparatus ;  their  libraries  are  larger  and 
more  adequate;  their  means  for  scholarly  investigation 
are  richer.  But  also  it  is  to  be  affirmed  that  the  teach- 
ing of  the  undergraduate  classes  in  the  best  colleges  of 
the  West  is  as  good  as  the  teaching  of  the  undergradu- 
ate classes  in  the  best  colleges  of  the  East.  Because  of 
the  larger  libraries  and  the  more  adequate  scientific 
equipment,  the  facilities  available  in  the  colleges  of  the 
East  for  doing  graduate  work  are  superior  to  those 
afforded  by  the  colleges  of  the  West ;  but  for  ordinary 
undergraduate  work  the  best  colleges  of  several  of  the 
Western  States  are  as  amply  equipped  as  are  the  better 
colleges  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  It  is  held  by  some 
that  the  colleges  of  the  East  tend  to  make  the  gentle- 
man more  than  the  colleges  of  the  West.  Within  a  few 
days  a  man  asked  me :  "  Why  do  the  men  of  the  Eastern 
colleges  seem  so  different  from  the  men  of  the  Western 
colleges  ?  "  The  inquiry  represents  a  superficial  obser- 
vation. The  inquirer  was  probably  comparing  the  type 
of  gentleman  formed  in  the  ordinary  college  of  the  West 
with  the  type  of  the  gentleman  formed  in  the  best 
colleges  of  the  older  commonwealths.  It  is  also  to  be 
said  that  the  type  of  the  gentleman  who  emerges  from 
the  college  depends  a  good  deal  upon  the  type  of  gentle- 
man tnat  comes  into  the  college.  But,  given  equal  ad- 
vantages before  one  goes  to  college,  the  best  colleges  of 
several  of  the  Western  States  are  as  well  fitted  to  make  a 
gentleman  as  are  the  better  colleges  of  the  older  part  of 
the  country. 

SEX    IN    EDUCATION. 

What  are  the  relative  advantages  for  a  man  —  and 
in  this  paper  I  am  discussing  the  student  who  is  a 
man  —  of  the  college  which  is  open  to  women  as  well 
as  to  men,  and  of  the  college  that  is  open  to  men  only  j 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE.  21 

this  is  a  question  that  the  ordinary  parent  considers  with 
at  least  some  degree  of  care.  It  is  a  question  which  he 
does  consider  with  even  greater  care  in  reference  to  the 
education  of  his  daughter.  He  debates  whether  it  is 
best  to  send  his  daughter  to  a  college  where  there  are 
men  or  to  a  college  where  there  are  women  only,  but 
for  his  son  it  is  usually  a  minor  matter.  The  question 
of  co-education  has  sometimes  been  regarded  as  a  ques- 
tion involving  the  question  of  duty.  The  question  of 
co-education  is  simply  a  question  of  expediency.  That 
it  is  wise  to  give  as  rich  opportunities  to  women  as  to 
men  to  secure  the  highest  education  is  evident.  The 
community  ought,  therefore,  to  give  to  women  oppor- 
tunities for  securing  the  highest  education  by  the  wisest, 
most  efficient,  and  most  economical  means  and  methods. 
When  a  community  is  new  and  poor  —  and  most  new 
communities  are  poor  —  it  may  seem  to  be  extravagant 
to  found  colleges  for  men  only,  and  also  for  women  only. 
Therefore  colleges  are  founded  for  both  men  and  women. 
But  when  a  community  becomes  richer  and  larger,  and 
many  colleges  are  established,  it  is  certainly  open  to 
argument  that  it  may  be  wise  to  found  colleges  for 
women  only  and  also  colleges  for  men  only.  Therefore 
the  question  of  co-education  is  not  a  question  of  duty, 
but  a  question  only  of  expediency.  It  is  often,  too,  a 
(juestion  of  taste.  That  some  men  are  advantaged  by 
association  with  women  in  the  same  class-room  is  clear. 
That  certain  men  are  harmed  from  this  association  is 
also  clear.  That  the  association  tends  to  increase  the 
respect  which  certain  men  pay  to  women  is,  I  believe, 
a  fact  of  experience.  That  the  association,  too,  tends  to 
diminish  the  respect  which  certain  other  men  pay  to 
womanhood  is  also,  I  believe,  a  fact  of  observation.  But 
there  is  one  and  only  one  important  element  in  this  con- 


22  THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE. 

dition  to  which  I  wish  to  allude :  In  the  co-educational 
college  and  because  of  the  co-educational  feature,  the 
life  of  the  men  is  usually  more  subjected  to  rules  and 
regulations  than  it  is  in  the  college  for  men  only.  (The 
same  condition  applies  to  women  too.) 

COLLEGE    REQUIREMENTS. 

In  judging  of  the  worth  of  a  college,  the  element  of 
the  amount  of  work  demanded  and  the  severity  of  the 
tasks  imposed  upon  the  student  have  great  value. 
It  is  said  that  certain  colleges  are  hard  to  get  into  but 
easy  to  stay  in,  and  that  other  colleges  are  easy  to  get 
into  but  hard  to  stay  in.  If  one  must  choose  between 
these  two  conditions,  I  am  sure  that  the  college  which 
is  easy  to  get  into  and  hard  to  stay  in  is  the  better. 
The  college  ought  to  hold  its  students  up  to  a  very 
high  standard  of  scholarship ;  and  that  college  is  doing 
the  most  for  the  sons  of  any  home  which  demands 
long-continued  and  severe  intellectual  labor.  One  peril 
besetting  the  college  student  is  the  peril  of  indolence. 
One  of  the  best  things  that  a  college  can  do  for  a  man 
is  to  aid  him  in  forming  the  habit  of  hard  work.  That 
college,  therefore,  which  makes  it  difficult  for  any  man 
to  stay  in  college  who  does  not  spend  eight  hours  each 
day  upon  his  mental  tasks  (including  recitations),  is 
rendering  to  that  man  a  service  of  the  utmost  value.  It 
is  a  service  the  worth  of  which  he  will  appreciate  more 
and  more  as  he  becomes  a  laborer  in  this  great  world 
of  labor.  Instead  of  being  obliged  to  make  a  choice 
between  the  college  to  which  entrance  is  difficult  and 
abiding  in  easy,  and  the  college  to  which  entrance  is 
easy  and  abiding  in  difficult,  the  choice  should  be  so 
changed  as  to  relate  to  the  one  college  into  wliich  en- 
trance and  in  which  abiding  are  both  easy,  and  to  the 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE.  23 

other  college  icto  which  entrance  and  in  which  abiding 
are  diflBcult.  (^The  peril  of  American  life  is  mediocrit}^ 
The  college  ought  to  do  much  in  upholding  the  highest 
standards  of  admission  and  the  highest  standards  of 
scholarship  and  of  general  excellence. 

THE    DOKMITORY    SYSTEM    AND    COLLEGE    COMMONS. 

A  further  inquiry,  which  relates  to  an  important  ele- 
ment of  college  life,  is  the  question  whether  the  student 
shall  room  in  the  college  dormitory  or  in  a  private 
family.  The  American  college  is  modelled  more  closely 
upon  the  English  university  college-system  than  upon 
any  other  educational  foundation.  Therefore  the  ordi- 
nary and  older  American  college  has  dormitories.  The 
newer  American  colleges  have,  in  respect  to  the  housing 
of  their  students,  been  more  inclined  to  follow  the 
German  than  the  English  method.  Few  State  univer- 
sities have  put  up  buildings  for  the  housing  of  their 
students.  It  has  sometimes  been  thought  that  the 
dormitory  system  was  disappearing  from  the  American 
college-life ;  but  recently  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
has  built  large  dormitories,  and  in  connection  with 
the  new  buildings  of  Columbia  University  houses  for 
students  may  be  erected.  To  many  men  the  college 
dormitory  represents  an  important  element  in  college 
life.  Not  only  is  it  a  lingering  element  of  the  conven- 
tual system,  but  it  also  embodies  a  distinct  experience. 
No  small  share  of  the  good  of  a  college  course  to  the 
student  is  the  intimacy  of  the  friendships  which  it  pro- 
motes. When  men  have  their  lodgings  under  one  roof, 
and  within  one  set  of  four  walls,  they  come  into  those 
relations  which  tend  to  promote  strong  friendships.  To 
study  the  same  subjects,  to  eat  at  the  same  table,  to 
sleep  and  to  dream  under  the  same  conditions,  to  love 


24  THE  CHOICE  OF  A    COLLEGE. 

and  to  hate  the  same  things,  represent  means  for  caus- 
ing men  to  give  inspiration  and  culture  and  education 
to  each  other.  The  disadvantage  of  dormitory  life  con- 
sists simply  or  largely  in  the  tendency  to  break  up  habits 
of  study.  This  result  is  a  part  of  that  wiping  out  of  in- 
dividuality which  happens  when  the  character  is  not 
sufficiently  strong  to  bear  attrition  or  strain.  A  man 
living  with  other  men  finds  that  his  time  is  less  his  own 
than  when  he  lives  alone.  This  difficulty  it  is,  of  course, 
possible  to  avoid  or  to  overcome,  but  it  is  a  difficulty. 
On  the  whole,  however,  I  think  it  is  best  for  a  college 
man,  at  least  for  a  while,  to  have  that  college  experience 
known  as  "  living  in  the  dormitory." 

It  is  also  well,  I  think,  for  a  man  to  share  with  his 
fellows  in  the  college  commons.  Colleges  adopt  different 
means  and  methods  for  the  feeding  of  students.  In 
certain  instances  the  colleges  take  no  means  for  pro- 
viding for  the  students ;  students  arrange  through  pri- 
vate boarding-houses  or  through  clubs  for  themselves. 
But  whatever  interests  the  student  interests  the  college ; 
and  therefore  the  college  is  always  eager  for  the  stu- 
dents to  have  good  board,  under  the  best  conditions. 
College  men  are  usually  poor ;  and  therefore  the  college, 
in  its  eagerness  to  help  them,  does  whatever  it  can  to 
secure  good  board  at  the  cheapest  prices.  The  best 
condition  usually  is  that  in  which  the  men  form  a  club 
on  their  own  responsibility,  but  under  general  college 
supervision.  Through  such  an  arrangement  they  are 
able  to  have  the  advantage  of  each  other's  companion- 
ship. They  are  able,  also,  to  secure  food  under  collegi- 
iate  conditions,  and  they  are  able  to  secure  it  at  the 
cheapest  price.  The  price,  of  course,  varies.  I  am 
intimately  acquainted  with  colleges  at  which  simple  but 
nutritious  board  is  had  at  two  dollars  a  week.     From 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE.  25 

this  sum  the  price  rises  to  five  or  six  or  more  dollars. 
The  average  price  for  board  at  all  colleges  does  not 
exceed  three  dollars  and  a  half  a  week. 

THE   FBATEKNITT    QUESTION. 

Before  the  student  is  admitted  to  college,  he  probably 
has  reflected  upon  the  question  of  whether  he  shall  join 
a  fraternity.  Certainly,  if  he  has  not  been  obliged  to 
consider  this  question  before  he  has  received  his  matric- 
ulation papers,  he  will  find  himself  obliged  to  consider 
it  soon  after  he  has  begun  work.  The  Greek  Letter 
fraternities,  as  they  have  come  to  be  known,  represent 
a  very  large  element  in  American  college  life.  For 
more  than  fifty  years  they  have  played  an  important 
role.  It  is  apparent  that  they  are  to  be  permanent  fac- 
tors. Of  them  are  more  than  fifty,  which  have  chapters 
in  many  colleges.  There  are  also  local  fraternities.  The 
foundation  of  some  of  them  runs  back  more  than  sixty 
years.  Various  purposes  control  and  various  methods 
prevail.  In  some  the  literary  purpose  and  motive,  in 
some  the  oratorical,  in  some  the  scholastic;  but  more 
generally  and  quite  commonly  the  social  and  friendly 
method  and  purpose  dominate.  College  fraternities  are 
becoming,  more  and  more,  simple  associations  of  men 
who  like  each  other,  and  who  wish  to  be  associated  with 
each  other.  Whether  a  student  shall  join  one  depends 
very  largely  upon  the  student,  and  also  upon  the  frater- 
nity which  he  may  be  asked  to  join.  On  the  whole,  I 
feel  confident  that  if  he  can  afford  the  expense,  —  and 
the  expense  in  some  cases  is  slight,  and  in  others  heavj-, 
—  he  will  get  more  out  of  his  college  life  by  being  a 
member.  He  will  form  more  numerous,  more  ardent, 
and  more  lasting  friendships.  The  disadvantage  of  fra- 
ternities is  pretty  closely  related  to  what  is  called  col- 


26  THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE. 

lege  politics.  College  politics,  on  the  whole,  is  quite 
as  bad  for  the  college  as  what  is  known  as  "  politics  " 
in  the  larger  world  of  civil  relations  is  bad  for  pure 
democratic  government.  For  the  bickerings  and  squab- 
blings  prevailing  in  college  politics  consume  large 
amounts  of  time  and  strength  without  rendering  ade- 
quate resvilts.  But  the  same  temptation  of  going  into 
college  politics  exists  for  the  man  who  is  not  a  member 
of  a  fraternity. 

ATHLETICS. 

There  is  a  further  field  of  effort  which  the  college 
man  will  be  invited  to  enter.  This  field  is  represented 
by  athletics.  But,  unlike  the  fraternities,  one's  entrance 
into  this  form  of  enjoyment  is  more  individual  than  in 
the  case  of  the  societies.  "  Shall  my  son  play  foot- 
ball ? "  is  a  question  which  the  parent  asks  himself. 
For  foot-ball  represents  the  specific  form  of  college  ath- 
letics which  emerges  most  conspicuously  before  the  mind 
of  the  college  boy  and  his  parent.  If  the  boy  be  of  a 
strong  body  and  in  fairly  good  health,  I  should  answer 
without  hesitation  "  Yes."  "  To  what  extent  shall  he 
play  foot-ball  ?  "  is  another  question  and  one  more  diffi- 
cult to  answer.  (Never  is  it  to  be  forgotten  that  the 
primary  purpose  of  the  college  is  to  make  the  thinker, 
the  scholar,  the  citizen,  the  gentleman.  Never  also  is 
it  to  be  forgotten  that  in  securing  these  four  purposes, 
the  student  is  to  possess  a  strong  body.  Man  is  so  made 
that  usually  he  cannot  become  the  broadest  and  keenest 
thinker,  or  the  largest  scholar,  or  the  most  useful  citi- 
zen, or  the  highest  type  of  a  gentleman,  unless  he  have 
a  strong  body.  In  order  to  secure  a  strong  body  exer- 
cise is  necessary.  In  order  to  secure  the  best  kind  of 
exercise,  enjoyment  of  the  exercise  is  necessary.     In 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE.  27 

order  to  secure  the  enjoyment  of  exercise,  the  presence 
of  others  taking  the  same  exercise  is  advantageous.  All 
these  various  purposes  and  methods  are  best  met,  on  the 
whole,  by  foot-balir) 

(But  of  course  foot-ball,  or,  indeed,  any  form  of  ath- 
letics, does  not  exist  for  itself.  It  is  a  means  to  an 
end,  —  a  method  for  making  the  thinker,  the  scholar, 
the  citizen,  the  gentleman.  The  peril  is  that  the  in- 
terest which  attaches  to  foot-ball  as  a  means  may  be- 
come attached  to  it  as  an  end  in  itself.  In  this  case 
it  becomes  an  unworthy  part  of  the  college  discipline 
and  training.^  That  certain  men  are  injured  for  col- 
lege work  by  their  indulgence  in  foot-ball  is  at  once 
to  be  granted.  That  many  men  are  very  much  bene- 
fited by  playing  foot-ball  is  also  to  be  affirmed.  The 
men  who  are  benefited  are  of  the  sluggish  type.  They 
are  the  men  who  need  to  be  taught  to  think  and  to  act 
quickly.  The  men  also  who  are  benefited  are  of  the 
individualistic  type.  They  should  be  taught  to  work 
in  co-operation  and  in  harmony  with  their  associates. 
The  American  college  has  put  before  itself  a  very  im- 
portant and  interesting  problem,  —  to  urge  the  men  to 
participate  in  sports  and  in  all  forms  of  athletic  amuse- 
ment without  participating  to  an  improper  extent. 

By  and  for  each  college  the  question  is  to  be  settled 
on  those  grounds  which  it  judges  are  best  for  its  stu- 
dents to  stand  upon.  That  Yale  or  Princeton  becomes 
more  popular  with  the  people  by  reason  of  a  foot-ball 
victory,  or  that  Harvard  becomes  less  popular  by  a  de- 
feat, is  not  -to  be  considered  as  an  element  of  the  ques- 
tion. It  is  a  very  open  question  how  far  parents  are 
persuaded  to  send  their  children  to  colleges  that  win  in 
foot-ball,  base-ball,  or  boating  by  these  athletic  victories. 
Certainly  some  parents  find   reason   for   sending  their 


28  THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE. 

sons  to  colleges  that  are  not  victorious  in  these  sports. 
But  each  college  is  to  adopt  such  rules  and  regulations 
in  sports  as  will  cause  its  students  to  participate  gene- 
rally in  the  sports,  and  to  do  all  it  can  to  cause  no  stu- 
dent to  devote  too  large  or  too  eager  attention  to  any 
sport. 

It  is  also  to  be  said  that  the  health  of  American  col- 
lege men  was  never  so  good  as  it  is  to-day.  The  disease 
of  dyspepsia  —  that  bane  of  the  student  of  forty  years 
ago  —  is  now  uncommon.  College  men  are  more  healthy 
on  that  day  when  they  stand  together  on  the  commence- 
ment platform  than  on  the  day  when  the  same  men  as 
freshmen  gathered  together  for  their  first  class-meeting. 
This  increase  in  the  vigor  of  the  typical  college  man  has 
been  derived  in  no  small  degree  from  the  presence  of 
athletics  in  college  life. 

(  In  addition  to  the  athletic  sports,  every  well-equipped 
college  has  a  gymnasium,  in  which  in  all  seasons  of  the 
year,  and  especially  in  those  seasons  in  which  out-door 
sports  cannot  be  indulged  in,  the  student  ought  to  be  a 
constant  and  happy  attendant.  In  certain  colleges  he  is 
obliged  to  take  exercise ;  in  other  colleges  exercise  is 
a  matter  of  his  own  volition.  But  four  or  five  times  a 
week,  for  at  least  half  an  hour  each  time,  he  ought  to 
be  found  in  the  gymnasium.  That  student  who  works 
the  hardest,  and  who  hopes  to  make  the  most  out  of 
life,  ought  to  be  the  most  severe  with  himself  in  de- 
manding that  he  take  constant  and  adequate  exercise 
in  the  gymnasium.  ) 

(The  student  who  thus  exercises,  and  who  sleeps  eight 
hours  each  night,  will  have  small  reason  to  ask  himself 
a  question  which  he  often  asks  himself,  and  which  par- 
ents often  ask  for  their  sons ;  to  wit,  "  How  much  ought 
my  son  to  study  each  day  ?  "     The  student  of  good  con- 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE.  29 

stitution,  who  takes  good  care  of  himself,  can  usually 
work  sixty  hours  a  week.  But  few  students  do  work 
this  amount.  Forty  or  fifty  hours  a  week  is  much 
nearer  the  average.  But  for  one  who  is  eager  and  strong 
and  ambitious,  and  who  lives  in  simplicity,  sixty  hours 
a  week,  or  ten  hours  a  day  for  six  days  a  week,  should 
not  be  regarded  as  an  exorbitant  amount.  But  for  men 
to  exceed  this  amount;  as  certain  men  do,  —  although  to 
exceed  sixty  hours  a  week  was  formerly  more  common 
than  it  is  now,  —  is  to  approach  the  danger  line.  \ 

STUDENT    MIGRATIONS. 

A  question  that  the  parent  often  asks  is  this :  "  Is  it 
well  for  my  son  to  take  his  entire  course  at  a  single  col- 
lege ?  "  From  German  university  to  German  university, 
the  German  student  migrates.  In  American  colleges  stu- 
dents seldom  migrate.  The  man  who  enters  a  freshman 
graduates  a  senior.  The  lessening  number  of  the  men  in 
a  class  is  usually  caused  by  men  dropping  out  by  reason 
of  lack  of  scholarship,  of  sickness,  or  poverty,  or  of  going 
into  business.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  American 
custom  is  wise :  it  is  usually  well  to  take  the  entire 
course  at  one  college.  The  man  who  enters  a  class 
after  the  first  year,  enters  at  a  disadvantage  for  the 
forming  of  intimate  friendships.  He  never  feels  him- 
self as  being  quite  a  full-fledged  member  of  the  colle- 
giate family.  To  be  sure  he  can  change  colleges.  Most 
colleges  accept  students  from  other  colleges  upon  the 
presentation  of  clean  papers,  indicating  that  they  are 
honorably  dismissed,  and  also  indicating  the  amount  and 
quality  of  the  work  that  has  been  done.  It  would,  of 
course,  be  difficult  for  a  man  from  a  third-rate  college 
to  secure  admission  to  Princeton,  or  to  any  other  first- 
rate  college.     It  is  also  to  be  said  that  Harvard  usu-' 


80  THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE. 

ally  requires  men  coining  from  whatsoever  college,  either 
to  stand  examinations  for  admission  to  a  certain  class  or 
to  fall  back  at  least  one  year.  To  change  from  one  col- 
lege of  a  certain  grade  to  another  college  of  the  same 
grade  is  easy;  but  it  is  not  usually  wise. 

SPECIALIZATION    IN    COLLEGE. 

The  student  before  he  enters  college,  or  his  parent  in 
his  behalf,  frequently  inquires  "How  early  should  a 
specialty  be  developed  ?  "  The  likeness  of  men  to  each 
other  in  college  is  one  of  the  significant  elements.  On 
the  whole,  men  seem  a  good  deal  like  each  other  in  their 
taste  for  different  studies.  Of  course,  there  are  certain 
ones  who  abhor  mathematics,  and  also  certain  ones  who 
are  fond  of  mathematics.  Certain  ones  excel  in  linguis- 
tic studies,  and  others  there  are  who  find  the  languages 
difficult.  But  there  does  come  a  time  when  a  man  should 
begin  to  develop  a  special  relation  to  his  probable  work 
in  life.  It  is  fortunate,  indeed,  that  the  studies  which 
fit  for  one  of  the  two  or  three  more  common  callings, 
fit  for  the  others  also.  The  same  preliminary  study 
that  fits  one  for  the  law,  fits  one  also  for  the  ministry, 
and  also  for  journalism,  with  a  few  slight  qualifica- 
tions and  exceptions.  [If  a  student  propose  to  be  a 
lawyer  he  should  dev^e  a  large  part  of  his  college 
time  to  the  study  of  philosophy,  constitutional  law,  po- 
litical science,  and  history^  if  a  student  propose  to  be  a 
minister,  he  should  devote  his  study  to  the  same  subjects 
and  in  almost  the  same  proportion  ;  if  one  propose  to  be 
a  journalist,  it  would  be  difficult  for  him  to  lay  out  for 
himself  a  better  course  of  study  in  the  last  two  years 
of  his  course  than  is  embodied  in  these  same  sub- 
jects, though  he  should  emphasize  history  and  social 
science.     Turthermore,  if  one  is  to  enter  into  business, 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A   COLLEGE.  31 

he  will  find  the  study  of  history,  of  economics,  and  of 
philosophy  the  best  subjects  to  occupy  himself  with. 
If,  however,  one  is  to  be  a  doctor,  he  should  devote  him- 
self to  physics,  chemistry,  and  biology  in  the  last  two 
years.  But  it  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that  men  who 
propose  to  be  doctors  usually  indicate  a  preference  for 
this  most  specialized  profession  as  early  as  the  middle 
of  the  course,  and  are  able  therefore  with  foreknowledge 
to  specialize  their  work.  Therefore,  if  a  student  show 
as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  junior  year  what  his 
conspicuous  ability  may  be  or  what  may  be  his  par- 
ticular liking,  the  time  is  sufficiently  early.  If  one 
have  no  liking  at  all,  and  no  preference  for  one  study 
above  another,  the  method  which  Maria  Mitchell  adopted, 
with  reference  to  the  students  of  Vassar  College,  is  as  good 
as  any.  She  reports  herself  as  saying  to  her  students  : 
"  When  a  student  asks  me  '  "What  specialty  shall  I  fol- 
low ? '  I  answer,  *  Adopt  some  one,  if  none  draws  you, 
and  wait.'  I  am  confident  that  she  will  find  the  specialty 
engrossing." 

r  After  this  long  discussion  of  well-nigh  a  score  of  the 
questions  which  a  parent  considers  in  choosing  a  col- 
lege, I  have  only  one  more  inquiry  to  propose  :  "  What 
will  my  son  be  good  for  when  he  graduates  ?  "  The  an- 
swer, father  and  mother,  depends  altogether  upon  your 
son.  He  may  be  good  for  anything ;  he  may  be  good 
—  but  seldom  does  it  occur  —  for  nothing.  He  proba- 
bly will  be  good  for  something.  The  college,  if  it  has 
done  its  full  duty  to  him,  has  not  fitted  him  for  his 
profession ;  it  has  not  fitted  him  for  the  ministry :  it 
has  only  fitted  him  to  fit  himself  for  the  ministry.  It 
has  not  fitted  him  to  practise  law  :  it  has  fitted  him  to 
begin  the  study  of  law.  It  has  not  fitted  him  to  be 
a  physician  :  it  has  fitted  him  to  prepare  himself  to  be  a 


32  THE  CHOICE  OF  A    COLLEGE. 

doctor.  It  has  even  not  fitted  him  to  be  a  college 
teacher,  as  the  old  college  did ;  but  it  has  fitted  him  to 
take  graduate  work  for  two  or  three  years,  in  order  to 
become  a  college  teacher.  But  what  is  more  important 
than  any  of  these  special  works  that  the  college  has 
done,  if  the  college  has  done  its  duty  to  him,  and  if  he 
has  done  his  duty  to  the  college  and  to  himself,  your 
son  is  a  gentleman.  He  is  also  a  thinker.  He  is  also 
a  noble  citizen.  He  is  also  more^or  less  of  a  Bch.olar. 
But,  supplementing  all  these  elements  and  mightier 
than  any  one  of  them,  the  boy  who  has  gone  to  college  a 
boy  and  has  come  out  of  college  a  man,  is  fitted  fgr__  life. 
For  the  college  is  a^ofessional  school  for  life  itself. 
Possibly  one  would  prefer  "tb"say^  college  is  life. 


15ZI 
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